A report from the scene

by Chris Hutter

On April 18, the youth of the First Unitarian Church in Baltimore shocked everyone by waking up before noon on a Saturday. The six youth involved in the Coming of Age project and their mentors descended on Druid Hill Park in a flurry of Earth-loving, setting up chairs and tables for the EcoFest which would occur that afternoon. The bright, warm sunlight and beautiful blue sky seemed to have no effect on the teens, who found other ways to amuse themselves after their intial objective was complete. We also have a testimony from one insider source, whose identity must be hidden for security reasons.

"Yeah, it was horrible...at first I thought it was just the early morning shadows, but there they were. They were like zombies, roaming the paths of the park, and wherever they stayed, tables and chairs just popped up for no real reason. This would've been bad enough, except after they were done they split into pairs, just one teen with one mentor. It was almost like a pack mentality, where they split up to surround the prey...you could tell they were a pack, they all wore the same T-shirts. And then those poor brave souls at hipotle began to set up. They might have gotten away if they hadn't offered volunteers free tacos. Pretty soon, the teenagers had gorged themselves on Mexican food and had gone back to their lairs, and all that was left of the Chipotle stand was a few scraps of lettuce..." (Note: At this point, the witness broke down sobbing and muttering incoherently. The only distinguishable words were "All those scraps of taco shells...just lying everywhere! Oh L ord....")

Playlist Spirituality

This is an opportunity to name 36 songs that remind you of your values, your religious ideas, or other aspects about the way you find meaning in the world. In other words, this is Playlist Spirituality. Copy the list below and paste in your own document or the comments below and fill in the titles and artists for songs that remind you of each category. Don't worry about whether the title communicates why you chose the song. The important thing is whether the song is personally meaningful to you. Comments about why you chose the song are optional and welcome.

This 36-question version is a long survey that's just for fun. As discussed in class, the take-home activity for Coming of Age is much shorter. For CoA, pick six songs that communicate your spirituality. The songs can be in any style. They don't even have to have words. The songs should remind you of some of the questions we discuss in CoA: What happens after we die? What does it mean to live an ethical life? Why do people gather in community? What is holy or sacred? If you send Becky (click here to email) your 6-song playlist before May 6, we will try our very best to put all the songs chosen by the youth on mix CDs, which we will listen to on the car ride to the retreat on May 15.

Enjoy the survey!

Spiritual Theme Song

When I think about spirituality, the first song that comes to mind

1.

Songs About Humanity

Something in my past that had a big impact on me

2.

A turning point in my life

3.

An important ethical topic

4.

Great things about being human

5.

6.

Not-so-great things about being human

7.

8.

Songs related to God

Something that's holy or divine to me

9.

Feeling at home in the universe

10.

Something that bothers me about the idea of God

11.

Figuring out what I believe

12.

Songs About Loss

Pain

13.

Loss

14.

Death

15.

Songs that help me cope with loss, death, and pain

16.

17.

18.

19.

Songs About Community

Earth Community

20.

Belonging in a group of people

21.

22.

Church or religious community

23.

Family (either the family I choose or the family I didn't get to choose)

24.

Songs Approaching the Meaning of Life

The kind of person I aspire to be

25.

My talents and gifts

26.

27.

Something I want to practice

28.

Things that give life meaning

29.

30.

Anything Else?

Songs describing my spirituality that I haven't already mentioned

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Meet the Minister, April 22

Next week, April 22, we are inviting all of the youth to join us for a session with Rev. David Carl Olson, the candidate for settled ministry at First U Baltimore. Please be on time. You may wish to come on April 22 with questions in mind. These might be questions you've always wanted to ask a UU minister, or questions to get to know Rev. David better. Suggestions from youth included, "Why did you decide to become a UU minister," and "Where do you get inspiration for your sermons?" Rev. David is interested in many of the same things that the youth are interested in, such as: theater, singing, social justice, living and working in the city, and building community.

Here are some links to learn more about Rev. David:
Rev. David's blog: http://coffeecabinet.blogspot.com/
The congregation Rev. David currently serves: http://www.uuflint.org/
Rev. David's home page: http://davidcarlolson.com/

**All youth, whether they are in COA or not, are invited to the session on April 22.**

There will be other events during the week to meet Rev. David. For a list of all open events, click here. The Religious Education community is also invited to a special event: a potluck bbq at Idalee DiGregorio's house. For more information on this event, click here.

Coming of Age recap from Apr. 15

We had a fun and thoughtful session on Wednesday. We missed those who weren't there, and hope you feel better soon. Here is a review of what we did so that the people who missed can catch up and the people who were there can remember what we talked about.

One of the check-in questions was about creating a space where you can go to reflect or to feel centered. We talked about how sometimes feeling centered or reflective is something we carry with us rather than being tied to a specific place. You may wish to start thinking about a playlist of songs that express your religious views or your morals; we'll share those playlists (or at least parts of them) on the way to the Wilderness Retreat May 15-17.

Wednesday's session was about "elevator speeches," brief descriptions of things that are part of our everyday lives, but that someone else might not know a lot about. The descriptions are short enough that you can tell them to someone as you are riding on an elevator, but there are no actual elevators involved. We might need an elevator speech to explain a hobby, job, music scene, or social justice cause that we're really interested in, but is unfamiliar to lots of people.

After a game involving elevator speeches about made-up words, we talked about UU elevator speeches. Those of us in COA, whether we personally identify as a UU or not, might get questions about where we go every Wednesday night. Some of the youth said that they hear a lot of questions from friends about UUism, some youth said the subject hasn't come up yet. We talked about times when other people try to convert us to their religion, and whether or not it was helpful to have a definition of your own religious views to give as a response. We'll return to the subject of what to do when other people try to convert you in late May.

If someone asks you what Unitarian Universalism is, it may be useful to choose ONE of the questions below and to answer it from your own perspective:

* What is a typical day/activity at First Unitarian Church of Baltimore like?
* Who were some famous Unitarian Universalists, and why are they good representatives?
* What were three key points in UU history?
* What is Unitarian Universalist worship like?
* Who is welcome in a Unitarian Universalist congregation? Be more specific than "everybody."
* How do Unitarian Universalists act to show their values?
* What is my favorite part of being a UU/ hanging around with UU's?
* When have I felt connected to UU spirituality?
* How has Unitarian Universalism changed my life?

During the discussion, there was a strong theme about COA or First U Baltimore being a place where youth feel unconditionally accepted, and where they see other people being accepted. This seemed to be an important aspect to describe if someone asks what Unitarian Universalism is like.

Remember: this Saturday, we are going to MEET AT DRUID HILL PARK at 7:30am near the main music stage. Do NOT come to the church. We won't be there. Call Lyn if you need to contact someone tomorrow during the project. Be sure to read the reminder that Becky e-mailed on Thursday for phone numbers and more details.

The take-home assignment is to document in your journal about your thoughts/feelings related to the service project, both before and after EcoFest.

As schedules fill up in the spring, it is more important than ever that we keep our commitments to each other. We depend on each other to build community and to support each other in reaching our COA goals. We look forward to seeing each other soon.

Unitarian Universalist Videos

There are several cool UU videos online. In "How To Save the Planet," a purple alien explains that Earthlings can't join the intergalactic community until we follow the Seven Principles:

Other Unitarian Universalist videos include:

"Voices of a Liberal Faith" is a 10-minute video also available on DVD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wezp1W2HKlU

"Is God Keeping You From Going to Church" is a 30-second commercial that played in the San Francisco Bay Area:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_24X8YmNldk&feature=related

"You're a Uni-What?" gently counteracts misperceptions about Unitarian Universalism: ttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st5Pv3lsG60

"Unitarian Universalism - Open Source Faith" by Rev. Christine Robinson explains Unitarian Universalism in terms of technology metaphors as a way of introducing her web-based church project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p03xPbSSSBU

And, closer to home, this one by our own Glenn Ricci: "Why I Am a Unitarian Universalist" was created with interviews from First U Baltimore folks.
Part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15R3EFI3BJU
Part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz-m4By4yHo

Do you know of a video not mentioned here? Let us know in the comments section below!

Enjoy!